Replace Sugar with These Power Sweeteners…

It’s no secret that refined sugar needs to be kept at a minimum in your daily diet if you want to decrease any risk you have of disease such as diabetes and heart disease as well as keeping your weight at a healthy level.

Truth is, there is little if any nutritional value to refined sugars. It offers no vitamins, minerals, fiber, water, protein or enzymes.

As a new raw food enthusiast (whether or not you eat raw all the time) refined sugar is one of the first things to go.

So how to you continue to make sweet snacks and treats that your whole family will love without sugar?

You use a sugar substitute and we not talking artificial substitutes (sucrose, saccharin, aspartame to name a few)…these should all be avoided like the plague.

Its natural sweeteners prepared by Mother Nature herself that fill that should be filling “sugar” gap.

Let’s take a look at 3 of the most popular natural sugar substitutes that are a perfect substitute in your snacks and treats…or meals.

Dates:

This odd looking wrinkled fruit is in the palm tree family along with coconut and red palm. They are some of the oldest cultivated plants known and have been used for thousands of years. Offering an incredible array of vitamins, minerals and health-benefiting phytonutrients. Full of dietary fiber they help keep your colon healthy. As for nutrients…you’ll get A, K and B vitamins from dates as well as many as 15 minerals including…copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and iron. Dates are naturally sweet, satisfying and full of flavor. They are the perfect way to sweeten desserts, snacks and treats or to simply enjoy by themselves.

Honey:

Honey like dates is one of the oldest sweeteners on earth. Always reach for the pure, raw, unprocessed kind because it offers more nutrient value and antioxidant power. This super food offers a wealth of cancer-defending antioxidants and is said to help alleviate allergy symptoms.

It offers an impressive list of nutrients and health benefits. It is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal and contains flavonoids and antioxidants that help reduces the risk of diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

There are many different types of honey on the market…more than 40 different types…each one offering a distinctive taste. The darker the honey the higher the antioxidants.

Maple Syrup:

Once again…we’re talking real maple syrup prepared from using the sap from the maple tree. Although Maple Syrup is not raw itself, the real stuff is used in raw cooking (some raw foodists don’t use it and some do). Rich with essential nutrients like manganese, zinc and omega-6 fatty acids…it contains polyphenols that are anti-inflammatory as well as 54 antioxidants that fight free radicals. Many prefer to use Maple Syrup over honey because of the reduced calories in comparison to honey and many raw food enthusiasts are now replacing Agave that is higher in fructose.

For great raw food recipes simply go to the “100 Healthy Snacks and Treats”. This affordable eBook is full of raw food recipes that are great for snacks or even dessert recipes. It is instantly downloadable so you can be making your own raw food recipes in a matter of minutes.